My laptop Core Duo 2.0ghz gets 200-300ppd on a unicore, but on SMP it gets more like 860 ish ppd on an SMP. Not to mention Intel Speedstep has permanently disabled it, so it's only running at 1ghz. Trust me, he can get over 1k ppd on 3.0ghz. Even with the 2665's, he should get at least 1k.
And 55c is bad for a CPU that isn't overclocked if you ask me. It's not going to hurt anything, but I still don't like what it tells you.
Just hold off on the overclocking till you get the Core Contact, like you were saying. When OC'ing that, you may want to check what temps you get right away at stock with the installation, to make sure nothing went wrong.